A Gwynedd village has received a retail boost with the launch of a new service.
Aberdaron now has a resident butchery again thanks to a joint venture in the village, supported by Cywain.
Chwilog meat business Cigoedd y Llain, and Aberdaron bakery Becws Islyn, have come together to launch a dedicated butchery section and farm shop inside the bakery.
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Emlyn Roberts of Cigoedd y Llain brings more than 25 years-experience in butchery to the partnership he has formed with baker Geraint Jones.
Emlyn began his career as an 18-year-old working on the butchery counter at a local SPAR shop, now he runs Cigoedd y Llain – which supplies locally produced beef and lamb to shops, pubs, and hotels, as well as making household deliveries.
Emlyn said: “We buy local Welsh Beef and Welsh Lamb from farms around the Llŷn Peninsula, and we will hopefully be able to offer lamb from Geraint’s farm too.
“The past 12 months and lockdown have been hard, especially as we are very dependent on tourism around here. But our household deliveries have increased, and we have been using local e-commerce platform to grow our customer-base.”
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Emlyn is proud he is bringing the meat venture to Aberdaron – a move that also supports local producers.
“I’ve always tried to support farmers by sourcing as much local meat as I can, and this venture is also about keeping communities together, and helping to breathe life back into places” says Emlyn, who is also involved in another enterprise to re-open the pub in his home village.
Sales rep-turned baker, Geraint Jones bought Becws Islyn seven years ago, which he runs with his wife Gillian. The collaboration with Emlyn has allowed him to realise his plans to develop the bakery to include a farm shop.
Geraint said: “We are an outlet for local produce, and will hopefully help put Aberdaron back on the map, and we can produce nearly everything around here.
“I like to look after the community as well, because if we don’t look after that we will not have anything.”
Help with the venture has come from Cywain - a Menter a Busnes project that supports the development of growth-orientated businesses.
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Emlyn said: “Cywain have supported me from day one when I started my own business. Geraint and I feel very strongly about local businesses working together and Cywain have helped us to pull all this together.”
Cywain Team Leader (Support for Micro and Small Businesses) Nerys Davies, said: “I’ve worked closely with Emlyn on a number of projects providing support in finding new markets to sell their produce, in developing their brand, and with social media up-skilling and distribution.
“Becws Islyn and Cigoedd y Llain also collaborated before Christmas on a joint local delivery service so it’s great to see this relationship develop further.
“This is a great example of collaboration and highlights the ethos of Cywain’s #SupportLocalSupportWales campaign.”